Test of faith endures in Scituate as church vigil reaches eight years

Maryellen Rogers noted that the round-the-clock vigil at the former St. Frances X. Cabrini Church has spanned two presidential terms. Although the people keeping the vigil aren’t convinced their sit-in will last four more years, they have made no plans to leave.

Maryellen Rogers noted that the round-the-clock vigil at the former St. Frances X. Cabrini Church has spanned two presidential terms. Although the people keeping the vigil aren’t convinced their sit-in will last four more years, they have made no plans to leave.

“This is our spiritual home that has been bought and paid for, and, to this day, maintained by the parishioners of St. Frances,” said Rogers, a leader of the vigil along with her husband Jon.

Eight years ago today, a St. Frances parishioner found an unlocked door and entered the Scituate church at 27 Hood Road, mere hours after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston had changed the building’s locks and closed the church. The vigil, aimed at preserving the church, has gone uninterrupted for the past 2,922 days.

St. Frances was among dozens of Boston-area churches pegged for closure in 2004 as part of a reconfiguration plan, designed to shrink the archdiocese’s growing debt.

Former parishioners, who have formed a nonprofit group called the Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, have taken turns occupying the facility, with two bedrooms set up for guests to sleep in. Jon Rogers said roughly 100 parishioners make up a “core group” of vigil keepers, and about 300 people assist with the nonprofit’s charitable programs and outreach efforts.

The group also hosts a lay-led service every Sunday at 10 a.m.

“Never has that church gone unmanned” since Oct. 26, 2004, Jon Rogers said.

This could change, however, in the coming year. In what’s the last step in the canonical appeals process, the Vatican’s highest court is currently considering a request – made by the Friends of St. Frances – to reverse Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s decision to relegate St. Frances to use for non-religious purposes. This designation, made in July 2011, essentially clears the way for the building to be sold.

Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, said Cardinal O’Malley has fulfilled his promise not to sell the building until the appeals process is exhausted. If the Vatican affirms O’Malley’s decision, Donilon said he hopes the sit-in group abides by the ruling and vacates the building.

“It’s not like we want to see people dragged out of the church, but I’ll say this will not go on forever,” Donilon said. “At some point, this will have to end.”

Maryellen Rogers said the people keeping the vigil won’t publicize their next step until the Vatican rules. In the meantime, her group – as it has for the past eight years – is asking for a meeting with Cardinal O’Malley to discuss several proposals, including one in which the Friends of St. Frances buy the church.

Page 2 of 2 - Donilon said that isn’t an option.

“There are 288 parishes open in the archdiocese that would gladly welcome them into their parishes,” he said.